The present invention relates to truck bed liners.
The present invention, more particularly, relates to a non-invasive fastener assembly for securing a truck bed liner within a truck bed.
Various patents have been granted in the field of truck bed liners. U.S. Pat. No. 4,181,349, issued to E. L. Nix, on Jan. 1, 1980, discloses a truck bed liner that includes upstanding side walls, having outwardly directed flanges, adapted to overlie the side rails of a truck bed, or cargo box. The truck bed liner is held in place by means of screw-expansion nut assemblies, extending downwardly through the liner flanges, into stake pockets provided in the truck side wall. This invasive arrangement is disadvantageous, in that the head of each screw is visible, so as to detract from the bed liner appearance. Additionally, the holes required in the liner flanges, for seating the heads of the screws, constitute leakage paths for rain water into the stake pockets and interior spaces within the truck side wall.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,592,583, issued to W. L. Dresen, on June 3, 1986, discloses a truck bed liner, that is fastened to the truck bed, by means of metal screws, extended through the liner bottom wall, into holes drilled in the truck bed. This is disadvantageous in that the installer is required to invasively drill the holes into the truck bed. Additionally, the holes in the liner bottom wall can transmit rain water onto the floor of the truck bed, thereby contributing to possible corrosion of the bed surface.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,850,633, issued to P. L. Emery, on July 25, 1989, discloses a truck bed liner that is fastened to the truck bed by means of a series of screw-nut assemblies, installed through the liner side walls, so as to exert clamp action on rail structures formed at the upper ends of the truck bed side walls. Each nut comprises a U-shaped metal clip, captively positioned on a plastic clamp body. The clamp body is acutely angled to the screw axis, such that when the screw is manually turned, the clamp body rocks around a contact point below the screw axis, thereby causing an upper end of the clamp body to exert a clamp force on a downwardly extending lip portion of an associated rail structure.
One disadvantage of the fastener assembly shown in the Emery patent, is the fact that the screw and clamp body must be assembled together, from opposite surfaces of the liner side wall. The screw has to be pushed through a small opening in the liner side wall, and threaded into a nut-clamp body unit while the unit is held manually against the remote surface of the liner side wall. It is sometimes difficult to accurately align the end of the screw, with the nut threads, so as to make the desired connection.
Another disadvantage of the fastener system shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,850,633, is that all of the screw-clamp body assemblies must be loosely attached to the bed liner, prior to placement of the liner in the truck bed (cargo box). If the installer inadvertently fails to loosely attach one, or more, of the screw-clamp body assemblies to the liner, prior to the placement of the liner in the cargo box, then the liner must be lifted out of the cargo box, in order to attach the missed screw-clamp body assembly.
A further disadvantage of the fastener assembly, disclosed in the Emery patent, relates to the fact that the head of the screw is at an oblique angle to the surface of the bed liner, such that the head does not effectively seal around the screw hole in the liner wall, allowing moisture to seep through the hole. Also, the projecting screw head can obstruct the movement of cargo along the bed liner surface. The oblique angle taken by the screw head, is also believed to be disadvantageous, in that the uneven pressure of the screw head on the bed liner surface can, theoretically, produce some warpage of the bed liner wall, especially if the screw is over-tightened. In extreme "over-torqued" situations the single thread in the sheet metal nut could be stripped into a failure condition.
Additionally, the fastener assembly of the present invention is designed so as to allow normal expansion, and contraction, of the truck bed liner, thereby preventing cracking of the bed liner material, yet securely holding the bed liner in position.
The present invention relates to a truck bed liner fastener assembly, designed to overcome most of the problems associated with the above-described truck bed liner fastener mechanisms.